Regular readers of this blog and supporters of RSPB Ramsey and RSPB Cymru will already know we like a drop or two of gin on this island! And not just for medicinal purposes at the end of a long day of shepherding or seabird fieldwork but because, thanks to our partnership with our friends from St Davids Gin, it provides much needed additional financial support for our conservation work on Ramsey and Grassholm

For the past two years every bottle of St Davids Gin or Ramsey Island artwork sold by St Davids Gin has seen 5% donated to RSPB Cymru to support conservation work on our RSPB Pembrokeshire islands. On Ramsey this has funded a UV filter system for our drinking water which has meant an end to the sale of plastic bottles on the island as well as helping fund our core conservation work, from shepherding costs for the benefit of our important chough population through to tracking devices for our Manx shearwater research work.

With life having been very different for everyone of late during lockdown St Davids Gin are offering a little boost. Today is World Gin Day (no I didn’t know it was a ‘thing’ either but I’m not complaining!) and to commemorate this event they are launching the ‘Ultimate St Davids & Ramsey Island Experience’. For every bottle of gin or piece of artwork sold from today, up until 1000 bottles are sold, buyers names will be entered into an online prize draw with the chance to win a series of prizes for up to 12 people worth over £5,000. Prizes on offer will include:

  • Two nights stay and exclusive use of the Cathedral Villas for 12 people (6 rooms)
  • All meals (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) provided by St Davids Gin & Kitchen
  • Guided tour of RSPB Ramsey Island and boat trip with Thousand Islands Expeditions around the island
  • Foraging and lunch experience
  • 6 x bottles of the 2020 Ramsey Island Gin
  • 6 x artwork from the Ramsey Island series

All you need to do to enter is buy a bottle of gin or a piece of artwork on St Davids Gin website to gain one automatic entry – full prize draw and T&C’s can be found here

And in a further boost to the RSPB, for the purpose of items sold during this prize draw period, St Davids Gin will donate a very generous £8 per item sold to RSPB Cymru to further fund our conservation work on Ramsey Island and Grassholm – very much appreciated during these times

As you will appreciate it is simply not possible to say when these prizes will be available due to the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions in Wales, with 2021 being a realistic time frame to currently aim at. Rather than wait until then to launch the prize, St Davids Gin and Kitchen wanted to give you something to look forward to. To keep things interesting, interim draws will take place at every 100 bottles sold with non travel related prizes on offer. So in the meantime why not enter the draw, sit back with a nice glass or two of gin, safe in the knowledge that Pembrokeshire will still be here when it is safe to visit again and your donation will be funding vital conservation work on RSPB Ramsey Island during these difficult times.